Forget about trying to balance a career and motherhood; most women can add building manager,landscaper and general caretaker to their superwoman list.

If this sounds familiar you'll love the new Livina from Nissan. Whether you're carting around kids, building supplies or plants, this car will surprise you with its space, versatility and handling. And the best is that you can do all this without feeling like a bus driver.

The Livina is the latest offering in the passenger market and will be available as a normal five-seater as well as a longer variation with two additional seats.

The five-seater will compete with the VW Polo and Honda Jazz, while the bigger Grand Livina seven-seater will be in the same segment as the Opel Meriva and Toyota Avanza.

There's enough DNA to remind you that the Murano is this people carrier's older brother. The grille design and muscular silhouette underlines the family traits.

To make sure other people don't get too attached to your Livina, there is a great new security system, laser microdot technology, where 10 000 high-tech dots are sprayed onto a minimum of 88 sites on the vehicle. These coded microdots will tell the police who the rightful owner of the vehicle is in case of theft.

The 52-litre fuel tank coupled with a claimed 7,2 litre/100km fuel consumption rate means your trips to the filling station will be few and far between.

You'll love the Livina's versatility. Seats are quickly and easily adjusted to accommodate just about any load. Whether you use it to carry people or goods, the 60/40 spilt in the rear seats plus the tiltable front passenger seat will allow you to carry bulky items up to 2,4m long. The five-speed manual transmission gearbox reaches a top speed of 180km for both vehicles.

In the Livina you won't need your superwoman suit – you'll feel like one anyway.